Seattle starts scheduling Sonics games for KeyArena

How’s this for a “holy cow, this is real!” moment? The city of Seattle has reportedly started setting aside time at KeyArena for Sonics games next season.

Seattle's new NBA team would play at KeyArena while a new venue is constructed. (Meryl Schenker/Seattle P-I archives)

Yes, this coming 2013-14 NBA season. Games usually start around the beginning of November. That’s just about eight months away.

If Seattle indeed gets the NBA back, the team would need somewhere to play while the proposed new arena is constructed. As is specified in the deal among the city, King County and arena investor Chris Hansen, that temporary home would be KeyArena. Hansen also plans to pay for $12 million to $15 million in improvements to the aging venue.

So, after a big legal roadblock was cleared Friday when a judge threw out the local longshore union’s lawsuit against the proposed Sodo location, the city got to work on scheduling for KeyArena. The city-owned venue already hosts Seattle Storm and Seattle University Redhawks games, so schedulers have to eliminate potential conflicts, The Seattle Times reports.

“We’re working hard to get Key ready by this fall,” Mayor Mike McGinn said, according to the Times. “We’re negotiating with Hansen’s people now about physical improvements. It could all happen relatively soon.”

We won’t know until April 18 — the date of the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting — whether Seattle will have a team next season.

Hansen’s planned purchase of the Sacramento Kings must be approved by the league, as must his application for relocating the team to Seattle. Also, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson plans to present a counteroffer to keep the Kings in California, though that effort may have just been complicated by reports that a Kings minority owner has a separate plan (albeit a fairly late one) to prevent the team from moving.

Meanwhile, at the same Seattle City Council meeting Monday where the city reported its KeyArena scheduling work, Councilman Nick Licata said it’s now basically a “done deal” that the new arena would be located in Sodo.